“Enough!” Ryan shouted. At the same time, a strong force slammed into my chest, throwing me backward. Mira’s wrists were ripped from my grasp and she was tossed to the other side of the room. My back slammed into the wall, sending a shock of pain up my spine. I slumped to the floor, gasping for air. Mira skid across the floor and slowly rolled to her hands and knees. She tossed her hair out of her face and narrowed her glowing gaze on Ryan, who was now standing behind his desk. The warlock’s dark expression was locked on Mira, waiting to see if she would now turn her anger on him.

“We don’t have time for this,” Ryan warned. I held my breath for a tense second and then another before Mira finally gave a curt nod. She pushed to her feet and returned to the sofa, brushing her long fiery locks out of her eyes. She never looked over at me. Ryan then turned his gaze on me, waiting. Still frowning, I pushed to my feet and turned to face Ryan, putting my back to Mira. I didn’t trust her, but with her anger just shy of boiling, I knew I’d feel it if she moved closer.

“Both of your concerns are valid,” Ryan continued. “However, I am confident that this new arrangement will work out. Collins was selected because he is so new to being a hunter. Anyone else on the squad would not have hesitated to stake Joseph at the first opportunity, regardless of my orders.”

“That’s their job,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

“If so, then we were wrong. The hunters of Themis should never have been a roving band of mercenaries.” Ryan sat back down in his chair and stared straight ahead, but I don’t think he was seeing Mira. His expression was too distant and tired. “Nightwalkers are not the enemy we want them to be.”

“The duty of the hunters is to protect mankind,” I countered.

“Their duty is to protect the secret, which protects mankind,” Ryan said stiffly, finally turning his golden gaze back to my face. “Whether we wish to acknowledge it or not, both the hunters of Themis and the nightwalker coven have adopted a similar goal. We both protect the secret. When a vampire threatens that secret, someone is dispatched to take care of that threat. To foster a new alliance, a nightwalker and a hunter have been assigned to work together to bring down a recent threat. They must protect and depend on each other in order to survive.”

“So you’ve sold us out to the devil?” I demanded. I thrust my hands through my hair, pushing it back away from my face in frustration.

“If we’re the devil, what do you call the naturi?” Mira asked.

I didn’t have an answer for her. Was Mira the devil? No, I didn’t think so. Was her kind evil? Yes. No. Maybe. I didn’t know anymore. “This is wrong.”

“Maybe,” Ryan sighed, his shoulders slumping. “But we need them if we are to survive whatever the naturi are plotting. Right now, I’m just trying to buy us some time and a little more firepower.”

“Have you spoken with the coven?”

“No. I have met with only Mira.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “So you’ve struck an alliance with the one vampire Elder that half the coven would like to see decapitated. How is that going to help us?”

“Let me worry about the coven,” Mira interjected. “You have other concerns at the moment.”

“Like what?” I asked, the muscles in my shoulders tensing.

“You’re staying in Savannah.” Ryan paused for half a breath. “With Mira.” He watched me closely, trying to gauge my feelings. It was as if he was waiting to see if I was going to lose my temper again. I had a better handle on things now. I wasn’t thrilled with the choice Ryan had made, but right now, there was nothing I could do about any of it. When the warlock was sure that I was calm, he continued. “Two nights ago, a young woman was murdered in her apartment. It looks like her attacker wasn’t human.”

“Vampire?” I demanded, resisting the urge to look over at Mira.

“Maybe,” he conceded, “but some of the initial information that we have received makes it look doubtful.”

Mira rose from the sofa and strolled over to Ryan’s desk. She perched her hips on the front of it so that she was in my line of sight. Her hands were folded in front of her and she looked calm again. “Normally, my contacts would be able to hush this up, but the girl was the daughter of a senator. He’s making too much noise and the press is digging in. We have to take care of the matter quickly and quietly.”

“It’s your city,” I snapped. “If you were here, maybe this would not have happened. You should clean up the mess.”

“First off, I requested Mira’s presence, at the risk of both herself and her city,” Ryan said, his voice growing strained. “Secondly, with the recent increase in naturi activity, I thought it best if you two worked together. While the preliminary information does point to a vampire, I’d rather be cautious.”

“And if it is a vampire, is she going to let me do my job?” I ground out.

“If it is a vampire causing all of this chaos and attention,” Mira began, her voice a cold, hard wind, “you’d better stay out of my way so that I can take care of the matter. I’m not as neat and clean about the task as you are. I don’t mind getting messy.” Mira slipped off the desk and walked over until she was standing directly in front of me. She lifted up on the tips of her toes so that her nose was nearly brushing mine. The air around us chilled as her powers swelled, pushing against me. “Like you said, it’s my city. You’re here to back me up.”

I stared into her eyes, the muscle tic in my jaw twitching as I struggled to keep control of my rising tension and anger. This was all too insane. I was once again working with Mira when I should be hunting her. At least she didn’t look pleased by the prospect.

“Get your things. We leave in twenty minutes,” she sneered then walked out of the room and into one of the two bedrooms in the suite, slamming the door shut behind her.

Beside me, I heard Ryan sigh heavily. The warlock leaned his head into his hand, his elbow resting on the arm of his chair. His eyes were closed and he looked very tired. I think the constant meetings were starting to wear on him, and to make matters worse, he had now formed an alliance with the nightwalkers.

“Did you have to anger her?” he asked, not looking up at me.

“An alliance with the vampires?” I demanded, ignoring his comment.

“We’re out of options. If you can think of a better idea, I’d love to hear it. At the moment, it’s all we have.” Ryan opened his eyes and stared at me. The warlock waved his hand and Mira’s door briefly glowed gold before fading away. A dampening spell. I had seen him use it several times since we had met. It ensured that no one could overhear what we were discussing. “Keep her alive, Danaus. This task will most likely be completed in a couple of days and we can discuss this more when you return.”

“If this is such an easy mission, why am I being sent?” I asked, my brows knitting over the bridge of my nose.

“Just in case it’s not. If it is the naturi, then they will want her dead. At the moment, she is our only ace.” Ryan paused, a strange smile lifting his lips as he finally looked up at me. “I think Mira also trusts you. Well, maybe not you, but your sense of honor. I don’t think she would let me send anyone else with her.”

“Great,” I grumbled, turning on my heel. I walked out of Ryan’s suite and back down the hall to my room. I needed to pack my bag yet again.

Mira trusted me. Just great. While I was off staking vampires throughout Europe, Ryan had formed an alliance with the nightwalkers so that the hunters were now working together with their prey. And Mira “trusts me.” I had seen entire nations rise and fall with less maneuvering than the schemes that Ryan and Mira were concocting, and I had no wish to be a part of another fallen nation.